Stocking



June 30, 1942. E. B. BIEACHAM Filed April 24, 1940 2 INVENTOR: I I EdwinBrand Beach WIT NESSES: I

BY W W ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 3%, W42

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI QE STOCKING Edwin Brand Beacham, Easton, Pa.

Application April 24, 1940, Serial No. 331,284 3 Claims. (01. 66-172)This invention relates to stockings; and it has reference moreespecially to stockingswith zones or bands near their tops capable oflengthwise stretching incident to knee bending, thereby to absorbstrains such as would be likely to cause ruptures or runs in thestocking legs.

The formation of the strain absorbing zones in stockings of the kindreferred to involves the use of covered elastic yarn which is muchheavier (thicker) than the inelastic yarn employed in the knitting ofthe other portions of the stockings. This characteristic is particularlytrue of covered elastic yarn manufactured under U. S. Patent #2,024,156granted to B. H. Foster on December 13, 1935 having a twisted core andtwo separate ply coverings wound in the direction opposite to that ofthe core twist. Strain absorbing zones or bands plain knitted from suchyarn are bulky and have a tendency to curl, and so detract from theappearance and salability of the stockings, and moreover, by reason ofthe aggregate strength of the compacted rubber do not yield sufficientlyfor the intended purpose. The foregoing is true even though the zones orhands are loosely knitted.

The aim of my invention is to make it possible to incorporate coveredelastic yarns, particularly of the patented kind supra, in stockings,and at the same time eliminate the above objectionable features. Thisdesideratum I realize in practice as more fully disclosed hereinafter,by forming, incident to the knitting of the strain absorbing zones orhands single courses from the covered elastic yarn in which every otherloop is transferred laterally to the adjacent wale, in alternation withplain courses made from inelastic yarn of substantially the same gaugeor count as that used in the body of the stocking, preferably syntheticyarn manufactured under U. S. Patent #2,l30,948 granted to Wallace HumeCarothers on September 20, 1938. Strain absorbing zones or bands soproduced will not only lie perfectly fiat when relaxed and have theproper characteristics as regards yielding capacity, but will comparemore favorably to the sheer texture of the other parts of the stockings,and, instead of marring the appearance of the hosiery, will actually addto its attractiveness.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a view, in side elevation, of a stockingconveniently embodying my invention.

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view drawn to a larger scale, showing thetexture of the stocking fabric; and

covered elastic yarn employed in the formation of the strain absorbingzone or band of my improved stockin'g.

As depicted in Fig. 1, the stocking has a leg portion'5 which is plainknitted from fine gauge synthetic yarn of the kind referred tohereinbefore, although it may be of silk, rayon or other material; awelt or garter-attaching top portion filwhich may be either of single ordouble thickness fabric) likewise plain knitted from the inelastic yarn;and an intermediate strain absorbing zone or band I in which the elasticyarn is incorporated as will be explained presently, so as to be capableof yielding both lengthwise and circumferentially of the stocking. Thekind of elastic yarn which I prefer to employ is illustrated in Fig. 3and generally designated by the letter E, having a'core R of rubbertwisted in one direction, an intermediate covering C of textile fiberswoundin the opposite direction, and an outer thread layer L twisted inthe same direction as said intermediate covering.

From Fig. 2, it will be observed that the zone or band 'I is formed withsingle loose courses I of the covered elastic yarn E (which isconventionally represented in heavy lines), in which the loop 9 of everyother wale is laterally transferred and doubled with the loop III of thenext adjacent wale. It will also be noted from Fig. 2 that correspondingpicot stitches resulting from such transferring in the several courses 8are not at true vertical alignment, that is to say, they are on a slightbias relative to the direction of the fabric wales. Alternating with thecourses 8 are plain courses II and [2 of the inelastic yarn which isdesignated by the letter Y and which may be, and preferably is, of thesame material and gauge as the yarn Y employed in the leg and topportions 5 and 6 of the stocking. Also by preference, the loops I3 inthe courses H are made relatively large as compared with the loops H inthe courses l2 which latter loops may correspond in size to those in theother portions of the stocking.- As a consequence of this construction,the strain absorbing zone or band I is given just the proper capacityfor expanding or stretching lengthwise of the stocking to the desired ornecessary degree, and, when relaxed, assumes a condition of perfectflatness with the rest of the stocking. Furthermore, by forming theloose open single courses 8 of the elastic yarn E directly next to therelatively loose courses ll of the thinner inelastic yarn Y, the aspectof coarseness in the band is avoided and its texture made to Fig. 3 is afragmentary view of the kind of compare more nearly to the sheemess ofthe stocking body. The strain absorbing zone is therefore notobjectionably conspicuous, and in fact, enhances rather than detractsfrom the appearance and salability of the stocking.

My invention is of course not to be considered as limited to the precisedetails of construction herein shown and described by way of example,since various modifications thereof are possible within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A stocking comprising a leg portion; a gar- ,ter-attaching portion atthe top; and a strainabsorbing zone between said leg and saidgarterattaching portion, in which zone plain loop courses of inelasticyarn alternate with courses 15 of elastic yarn having enlarged loops inspaced wales transferred laterally all in the same direction and doubledin each instance with the loop in the next adjacent wale.

2. A stocking according to claim 1 in which the loops of the plaincourses of inelastic yarn immediately adjacent the course of the elasticyarn in the strain-absorbing zone are also enlarged.

3. A stocking according to claim 1 wherein corresponding stitches formedby the laterally transferred loops in the several elastic courses 'areon a bias relative to the direction of the fabric wales.

EDWIN BRAND BEACHAM.

